Gareth Southgate says England captain Harry Kane will have "added motivation" when he leads his country for the first time since missing a decisive penalty against France in the World Cup.
Kane remains tied with Wayne Rooney as his country’s all-time top scorer on 53 goals ahead of England’s return to action in Thursday’s European Championship qualifier against Italy in Naples.
The Tottenham striker blew the chance to break the record when he blazed a second spot-kick of the game over the bar as England lost 2-1 to the eventual runners-up in the quarter-final in Qatar in December.
Kane has said he will never get over the moment but it has not impacted his form, and he has found the net 10 times for Spurs since the domestic restart.
"We’ve see that mentality with his performances with his club, he’s put it behind him but he’ll have added motivation tomorrow night to come back and show everybody what he’s about in an England shirt. For us, that’s a good position," Southgate said.
Asked where Kane ranked in the pantheon of great England strikers, Southgate added: "That’s always difficult to compare across ages. There are a lot I didn’t see because I wasn’t alive. Because of his goal-scoring record alone it puts him in the upper echelons of the group. He provides so much more to the group that that. Quality of passing, vision, touch. He’s an outstanding player and we’re lucky to have him."
As they begin a new cycle, Southgate has challenged England to lay down a marker against the European champions, having not beaten Italy away from home for 62 years.
"In a nutshell it’s the sort of challenge we’ve got to start to take on and the type of game we’ve got to start winning," he said.
"We have over a period but we have to consistently do that. We haven’t won here since 1961, great bit of history we have to knock down. It’s a great challenge for the team, they have knocked down those barriers in the past. It’s going to be a fabulous game."
